Arbeitspapier

Institutional framework and poverty: A transition economy perspective

This paper focuses on the role of ‘institutions’ in poverty alleviation, where both poverty and institutions are interpreted broadly. The broadening of the poverty notion is important at least from the policy perspective. Even if one were convinced that higher growth would reduce income poverty to an acceptable margin, there appears to be little concrete policy measures that one may offer so as to harness greater growth. Besides, the weight of the empirical evidence to date, if not squarely founded on the transition economies of the EEFSU region, is that reducing average poverty is not enough. Existing and possibly rising inequality would ensure that a great many would fall through the cracks, and not benefit from high growth, even if that was achievable. The non-income elements of poverty, on the other hand, are more directly open to influence by policy interventions such as the easing of microcredit and other public and private ventures in health, sanitation, literacy and numeracy fronts. Finally the modest amount of information available at our disposal indicates that the underlying strength of the institutions (economic, political and social) is possibly the single most agent of significance to bring about the alleviation of non-income poverty. There is a further possibility that the same institutional forces would also materially affect the income measure of poverty as well in a discernible fashion. – institutions ; poverty reduction ; growth

ISBN
9291900974
Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: WIDER Discussion Paper ; No. 2001/136

Classification
Wirtschaft
Subject
Armut
Wirtschaftswachstum
Institutionalismus
Armutspolitik
Institutionelle Infrastruktur
Übergangswirtschaft
Institutioneller Wandel
Osteuropa

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Ahsan, Syed M.
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
(where)
Helsinki
(when)
2001

Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Ahsan, Syed M.
  • The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)

Time of origin

  • 2001

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